Systems and methods for reestablishing a call in a telecommunications network

ABSTRACT

A call server includes a network interface for connecting the call server to a packet-based network within a telecommunications network. The call server establishes a first connection with a calling party terminal and a second connection with a called party terminal via the packet-based network. The call server then joins the first connection with the second connection to establish communication between the calling party terminal and the called party terminal. The call server may park the second connection when the first connection is terminated or vice-versa and establish a new connection with the calling party terminal via the packet-based network if the first connection was terminated or vice versa. The call server may join the new connection with the first or second connection to reestablish communication between the calling party terminal and the called party terminal.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a continuation of U.S. application Ser. No.12/974,648, filed Dec. 21, 2010. The patent application identified aboveis incorporated here by reference in its entirety.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present invention relates generally to a call reestablishmentfeature in a telecommunications network. In particular, the presentinvention relates to the implementation of a call reestablishmentfeature in an Internet Protocol (“IP”) or other packet-based network orsegment of a telecommunications network.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

In one embodiment, a call server in a telecommunications network isdisclosed. The call server includes a network interface for connectingthe call server to a packet-based network in which the packet-basednetwork comprises at least a segment of the telecommunications network.The call server also includes a memory for storing one or more programmodules and a processor for executing the one or more program modules.The one or more program modules may comprise computer-executableinstructions for causing the call server to: establish a firstconnection with a calling party terminal via the packet-based network,establish a second connection with a called party terminal via thepacket-based network, join the first connection with the secondconnection to establish communication between the calling party terminaland the called party terminal, park the second connection when the firstconnection is terminated or park the first connection when the secondconnection is terminated, establish a new connection with the callingparty terminal via the packet-based network if the first connection wasterminated or establish a new connection with the called party terminalvia the packet-based network if the second connection was terminated,and join the new connection with the first or second connection toreestablish communication between the calling party terminal and thecalled party terminal.

These and other aspects and features of the invention will be describedfurther in the detailed description below in connection with theappended drawings and claims.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating an exemplary system forimplementing a hold-call-back feature in a telecommunications network,in accordance with certain embodiments of the invention.

FIG. 2 is a flow chart illustrating an exemplary method for implementinga hold-call-back feature according to certain embodiments of theinvention.

FIG. 3 is a flow chart illustrating an exemplary method for establishinga connection with a calling party terminal and receiving and processinga phone number for a called party terminal, in accordance with certainembodiments of the invention.

FIG. 4 is a flow chart illustrating an exemplary alternative method forestablishing a connection with a calling party terminal and receivingand processing a phone number for a called party terminal, in accordancewith certain embodiments of the invention.

FIG. 5 is a flow chart illustrating an exemplary server-side method forinitiating a call for which a hold-call-back feature is enabled,according to certain embodiments of the invention.

FIG. 6 is a flow chart illustrating an exemplary client-side method forinitiating a call for which a hold-call-back feature is enabled,according to certain embodiments of the invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF EXEMPLARY EMBODIMENTS

The present invention provides systems and methods for implementing ahold-call-back feature in a packet-based network or in a packet-basedsegment of a telecommunications network that includes packet-based andnon-packet-based segments (i.e., a hybrid network). As used herein, theterm “hold-call-back” is used to describe generally a calling featurethat allows a caller to terminate a connection in response to the callbeing placed on hold and to receive a call-back when the party whoinitiated the call hold becomes available. Exemplary embodiments of thepresent invention will be described herein in the context of “Voice overIP” communications. Voice over IP, also referred to as “VoIP,” is ageneral term of a family of methodologies, protocols, and transmissiontechnologies for delivery of voice communications and multimediasessions over IP networks. Those skilled in the art will appreciate,however, that the principles of the present invention may be applied toany packet-based communication protocols and technologies.

The hold-call-back feature is implemented through one or more softwaremodules executed by one or more network servers (e.g., call server, APIserver, database server) connected to the IP network. Calls originatingfrom or destined for the PSTN (or other non-IP segments of atelecommunication network) may be routed to and from the network serversby appropriate media gateways, session border controllers, etc. Thesedevices are collectively, and generally, referred to herein as “gatewaydevices.” In operation, a first call connection is established between acalling party terminal and a call server. The calling party terminal maydial an access number to establish this first connection, or may use aclient-side application to request that the call server initiate thefirst connection. The call server may then prompt the calling partyterminal to enter the phone number of the party to be called and, afterthat phone number is received by the call server, the call serverinitiates a second connection between itself and the called partyterminal. The call server subsequently joins or bridges the firstconnection with the second connection to establish communication betweenthe calling party terminal and the called party terminal.

If the call is placed on-hold by the called party, the calling party caninvoke the hold-call-back feature by inputting a pre-determined starcode or other activation command to the call server. After the callserver receives the hold-call-back activation command, it splits thefirst connection from the second connection and then disconnects thefirst connection (i.e., the connection between the call server and thecalling party terminal) but maintains the second connection (i.e., theconnection between the call server and the called party terminal). Thecall server may play a message for or issue a prompt to the callingparty terminal before terminating the first connection. With the firstconnection terminated, the calling party may hang up his/her terminaland is thus freed from the burden of holding on the line until thecalling party is available. Then the call server repeatedly prompts thecalled party terminal for input of a command for reestablishingcommunication with the calling party. The call server monitors thesecond connection for input of the call reestablishment command by thecalled party terminal. If the call reestablishment command is detected,the call server initiates a new connection between itself and thecalling party terminal. Once this new connection is established, thecall server bridges it with the existing second connection (i.e.,between the call server and the called party terminal) to reestablishcommunication between the calling party terminal and the called partyterminal.

Reference will now be made in detail to various and alternativeexemplary embodiments and to the accompanying figures, in which likenumerals represent substantially identical elements. Each exemplaryembodiment is provided by way of explanation, and not as a limitation.It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that modifications andvariations can be made without departing from the scope or spirit of thedisclosure and claims. For instance, features illustrated or describedas part of one embodiment may be used in connection with anotherembodiment to yield a still further embodiment. Thus, it is intendedthat the present disclosure includes modifications and variations thatcome within the scope of the appended claims and their equivalents.

FIG. 1 depicts an exemplary system 100 for implementing a hold-call-backfeature in a telecommunications network, in accordance with certainembodiments of the invention. The exemplary system 100 may include oneor more terminals 105 and 110 connected to the PSTN 115 and a gatewaydevice 130 a connecting the PSTN 115 to an IP network 110 (e.g., theInternet or a private IP network, etc.). The exemplary system 100 mayalso include one or more mobile terminals 120 and 122 in communicationwith a radio access network 125 and one or more gateway device 130 b and130 c connecting the radio access network 125 to the PSTN 115 and the IPnetwork 110, respectively. One or more network servers (e.g., callserver 135, API server 145, and database server 150), one or moredatabase 155 and one or more terminal 160 and 165 may also be connectedto the IP network 110.

As used herein, a “terminal” refers to any wireline or wireless devicefor initiating and/or receiving calls, including traditional rotaryterminals, pulse-activated DTMF terminals, cell phones, personalcomputers and the like. As will be appreciated, terminals can vary inconnectivity, functionality and other characteristics and features. Thepresent invention contemplates that one party (the “calling party”) willuse a first terminal (e.g. terminal 105) to call another party (the“called party”), who uses a second terminal (e.g., terminal 110,terminal 120 or terminal 160). For example, the called party may be anagent or operator in a call center or other location that receives ahigh volume of calls. However, the called party may in general be anyuser of any terminal. A call can comprise any voice or other type ofmedia communication.

As is well known in the art, calls originating from, terminating in orpassing through a non-IP network (e.g., the PSTN 115 or the radio accessnetwork 125) may pass through one or more gateway devices 130 a-c,which, among other functions, convert digital media streams betweendisparate types of telecommunications networks. Gateway functionality isnot unique to the present invention and is therefore not explained infurther detail herein. Of course, the present invention alsocontemplates end-to-end VoIP calls between terminals (e.g., terminals160 and 165) connected to the IP network 110 that would not require agateway device 130 a-c.

In accordance with the present invention, calls between terminals aremanaged by the call server 135. FIG. 1 depicts only a single call server135 for simplicity, but multiple call servers 135 may be deployed in ascaled system. In the context of the present invention, a call server135 can be a VoIP server or any other processor-driven device that iscapable of executing instructions for establishing and/or managing callconnections between terminals and for implementing the inventivehold-call-back feature as hereafter described. The call server 135 willthus include components such as a network interface for connecting tothe IP network 110 and communicating with the resources thereof, amemory device for storing computer-executable instructions (e.g.,software code) and data, and a processor for executingcomputer-executable instructions. Other components and the basicoperation of processor-driven devices are well known in the art and aretherefore not discussed herein.

In certain embodiments, the call server 135 may execute the Linuxoperating system and the FreeSWITCH communications platform. In such anenvironment, one or more “hold-call-back” modules 137, which includecomputer-executable instructions for performing the methods of thehold-call-back feature described herein, may be implemented as anapplication, or a component of an application, built on the FreeSWITCHplatform. Examples of such applications include JSON and OpenSSL. Inother embodiments, the call server 135 may execute any other suitableoperating system and call management software and the hold-call-backmodule(s) 137 may be implemented as a component thereof or as astand-alone application. The call server 135 may also execute speechrecognition software, such as PocketSpynx or any other suitable program,for detecting speech commands transmitted by the various terminals. Thecall server 115 may also execute software module(s) for generating callrecords or the like.

Call records and other data (e.g., details regarding call connections,on-hold statistics, call durations and various actions taken by thecalling party and called party) may be stored in the local memory of thecall server 135, which may include a RAM, hard disk, removable disks,tape arrays, or any other computer readable medium. Alternatively, oradditionally, the call server 135 may communicate with a database server150 for storing call records and/or other data in one or more database155. The database(s) 155 may be connected to the database server 150and/or the IP network 110. The database server 155 can be implementedusing PostGreSQL running on the Linux operating system, for example.

In some embodiments, functionality for implementing the inventivehold-call-back feature may be distributed among multiple servers, suchas the call server 135, the API server 145 and the database server 150.For example, the API server 145 (or other web server) may interact withclient-side application modules 170 executed by certain terminals 120and 122, such as smart phones, personal computers, laptop or tabletcomputers or other computing devices, to initiate a new call. As aresult of this interaction, the API server 145 may collect data from acalling terminal 120, such as the calling terminal's phone number andthe phone number of a called terminal 160, and may send data andmessages to the calling terminal 120. The API server 145 may thencommunicate with the database server 150 to establish and store a callrecord for the new call and send data to the call server 135 so that thecall server 135 can establish a connection with the calling partyterminal 120. For simplicity's sake, FIG. 1 depicts one call server 135,one API server 145 and one database server 150, but multiple of each ofthese devices can be used to implement a more scalable system.Additional details regarding these distributed embodiments are providedbelow with reference to FIGS. 4-6.

FIG. 2 is a flow chart illustrating an exemplary method 200 forimplementing a hold-call-back feature according to certain embodimentsof the invention. By way of example, the hold-call-back module(s) 137executed by a call server 135 may comprise computer-executableinstructions for performing the exemplary method 200 or a method similarthereto. The method begins at start step 201 and proceeds to step 202,202′ (see FIGS. 3 and 4), where a connection is established with acalling party terminal and a phone number for a called terminal isreceived from the calling party terminal and processed. As will beexplained with reference to FIGS. 3 and 4, the connection with thecalling party terminal may be initiated by the calling party terminal orby the call server. Once the phone number for the called party terminalis processed, e.g., to determine that the call is authorized, aconnection to the called party terminal is initiated by sending aconnection request to that phone number at step 204. If it is determinedat step 206 that a connection cannot be established with the calledparty terminal, the method ends at step 240. However, if a connection isestablished with the called party terminal, the connection with thecalling party terminal and the connection with the called party terminal(which are two separate call connections) are joined at step 208, toestablish communication between the calling party terminal and thecalled party terminal.

The joined call connections are monitored at step 210 for activation ofthe hold-call-back feature. As described, activation of thehold-call-back feature may occur when one party, in response todetermining that the other party has put the call on-hold, inputs anactivation command, such as a predetermined star code, voice command,etc. In some embodiments, different commands may be used to activatedifferent variations of the hold-call-back feature. For instance, afirst command (e.g., *7) may be used to indicate that one party simplywishes to receive a call-back when the other party takes the call offhold; a second command (e.g., *6) may be used to indicate that one partywishes to receive a call back at a specified time, which can entered bythat party in response to prompts; and a third command (e.g., *5) may beused to allow one party to record a message that will be played to theother party when the other party takes the call off hold. These andother variations for the hold-call-back feature will occur to those ofskill in the art. In still other embodiments, the call server may beable to detect that one party has put the other on-hold and may promptthe held party terminal for a hold-call-back activation command.

If it is determined at step 212 that the hold-call-back feature has notbeen activated, a determination is made at step 214 as to whether eitherparty has “hung-up”, i.e., terminated the call. If either party has hungup, the method ends at step 240. If not, processing returns to step 210to continue monitoring for activation of the hold-call-back feature.When it is determined at step 212 that the hold-call-back feature hasbeen activated, the joined call connections are split and parked at step216 so that neither party can hang up. Then at step 218, the held partyterminal (i.e., the terminal that activated the hold-call-back feature)is prompted for optional input of an alternate call-back number. Thecall-back number (i.e., either the phone number of the held partyterminal or a specified alternate call-back number) is stored in memoryat step 220. The connection with the held party terminal is thenterminated, while the connection with the holder party terminal (i.e.,the terminal that placed the call on-hold) is maintained at step 222. Insome embodiment, the connection with the held party terminal may not beparked to allow for input of an alternate call-back number.

At step 224, an on-hold timer is started. This timer tracks the amountof time the call remains on-hold. More specifically, this time tracksthe amount of time the connection with the holder party terminal remainson hold. At step 226 the connection with the holder party terminal isprompted and monitored for a command to reestablish the held call. Theprompt can be a voice recording or other communication capable of beingreceived and acted upon by the holder party terminal. The prompt can beplayed continually at predetermined or variable intervals until anappropriate response is received or the holder party hangs up. Thecommand call reestablishment command can be a star code, voice commandor other suitable command. Thus, for example, the holder party may beprompted to “press 1 or say ‘connect me’ to reconnect your call” and theconnection can be monitored for input of either of those commands.Alternatively, or in addition, customized prompts can be transmitted tothe holder party terminal. For example, as described, the held party mayhave been given an option to record a voice message for the holder party(e.g., regarding the purpose of the call, information requested, etc.),which may be packaged with instructions on how to reconnect the call andtransmitted to the holder party terminal. In such embodiments, theamount of time spent on-hold by the held party can be further reduced byproviding the holder party with an opportunity to become more preparedfor the call before entering the call reestablishment command, e.g., byobtaining the information requested in the voice recording.

At step 228, a determination is made as to whether the callreestablishment command is detected. If not, it is determined at step230 whether the holder party terminal has hung up. If the holder partyhangs-up the call, the on-hold timer is stopped and the on-hold time isadded to a database record associated with the held party terminal (orheld party) at step 232 and the method ends at step 240. If the holderparty does not hang-up the call, the method returns from step 230 tostep 226 to continue monitoring and/prompting the holder party terminalfor the command to reestablish the call. When it is determined at step228 that the call reestablishment command is detected, the on-hold timeris stopped and the on-hold time is added to a database record associatedwith the held party terminal (or held party) at step 234. Then, at step236, a new connection is initiated with the terminal of the held partyby sending a connection request to the call-back number that had beenstored in memory. Accordingly, the terminal of the held party may be thesame terminal that had previously been involved in the call, or may be adifferent terminal associated with an alternate call-back numberspecified by the held party. From step 236, the method returns to step206 for a determination of whether the new connection with the heldparty is successfully established. If so, this new connection and theconnection with the holder party are joined at step 210, so that theparties can again communicate with each other. From that point, themethod continues in the same manner as described above.

FIG. 3 is a flow chart illustrating in an exemplary method 202 (see FIG.2) for establishing a connection with a calling party terminal andreceiving and processing a phone number for a called party terminal. Incertain embodiments, the described hold-call-back module(s) 137 executedby a call server 135 may comprise computer-executable instructions forperforming the exemplary method 202 or a method similar thereto. Theexemplary method begins at start step 301 and proceeds to step 302,where an incoming connection request is received from a calling partyterminal. In such embodiments, the calling party terminal initiates aconnection with a call server 135 by sending a connection request to adesignated phone number associated with the call server 135. The callserver 135 accepts the incoming connection request and therebyestablishes a connection with the calling party terminal. Next at step304 the calling party terminal is prompted for a phone number of acalled party terminal. The prompt can be a voice recording or othercommunication capable of being received and acted upon by the callingparty terminal. The phone number for the called party terminal is thenreceived at step 306. As will be appreciated, the call server 135 may beconfigured to automatically determine and store the phone number for thecalling party terminal when the connection with the calling partyterminal is established, etc.

At step 308 a determination is made as to whether the call requested bythe calling party terminal to the called party terminal is authorized toproceed. This determination may involve one or more sanity checks. Forexample, customer account details (e.g., stored in a database record)associated with the calling party terminal's phone number may beaccessed to confirm that the account is current and no delinquenciesexist. In addition, a rating database can be searched for rate recordsassociated with the phone numbers of the calling party terminal and thecalled party terminal. If it is determined that either phone number isnot associated with a rate record, or if the rate records indicate acost for the requested call above a preset threshold (e.g., which may beassociated with the calling party's account) then the call will not beauthorized to proceed. Those skilled in the art will appreciate thatvarious other sanity checks and other tests can be performed todetermine if the requested call is authorized to proceed.

If the requested call is not authorized to proceed, the method proceedsto step 310 where the calling party terminal is prompted or otherwisenotified that the call cannot be completed. From step 310, processingreturns to step 304, where the calling party terminal is again promptedfor a phone number of a called party terminal and the method continuesfrom that point as previously described. When it is determined at step308 that the requested call is authorized to proceed, the processingmoves to step 204 (FIG. 2) for initiation of the connection with thecalled party terminal.

FIG. 4 is a flow chart illustrating in an exemplary alternative method202′ (see FIG. 2) for establishing a connection with a calling partyterminal and receiving and processing a phone number for a called partyterminal. In such embodiment, the call server 135 interacts with an APIserver 145, which in turn interacts with the client-side applicationmodules(s) executed by the calling party terminal. Thus, certain of thehold-call-back module(s) 137 may comprise computer-executableinstructions for performing the exemplary method 202′ or a methodsimilar thereto. The exemplary method begins at start step 401 andproceeds to step 402, where a call start command and a call recordidentifier are received from the API server 145. Then at step 404, thephone numbers for the calling party terminal and the called partyterminal are retrieved from a database record associated with the callrecord identifier. The applicable database record may be retrieved byinteracting with the database server 150, in some embodiments. As willbe explained with reference to FIG. 5, the call from the calling partyterminal to the called party terminal may have already been authorizedto proceed by the API server 145, thus making such an authorization stepunnecessary (or at least optional) as part of method 202′. The phonenumber for the calling party terminal is used to initiate a callconnection to the calling party terminal at step 406 and then processingmoves to step 204 (FIG. 2) for initiation of the connection with thecalled party terminal.

FIG. 5 is a flow chart illustrating an exemplary method 500 forinitiating a call for which a hold-call-back feature is enabled,according to certain embodiments of the invention. In certainembodiments, this exemplary method 500 may be executed by an API server145 or other web server. In other embodiments the exemplary method 500may be executed by a call server 135 or another device. Thus, forexample, certain of the previously mentioned hold-call-back module(s)137 may comprise computer-executable instructions for performing theexemplary method 500 or a method similar thereto. The exemplary method500 begins at start step 501 and proceeds to step 502, where a requestfor on-hold statistics is received from a calling party terminal. Asdescribed previously, the call server 135 can use timers to calculateon-hold times for calls in which the hold-call-back feature isactivated. Thus, the on-hold statistics track the amount of time thatthe hold-call-back feature has “saved” a calling party over time by notrequiring that party to remain on-hold during calls. In someembodiments, the request can be sent as a JSON statistics request thatcomprises a unique identifier associated with the calling partyterminal.

At step 504, the on-hold statistics for the calling party terminal areretrieved from one or more database record associated with the callingparty terminal. The database record(s) may indicate a total on-hold timefor the calling party terminal, or may indicate individual on-hold timesfor multiple calls, which times can be summed to calculate a totalon-hold time. At step 506, the on-hold statistics are provided to thecalling party terminal for display to the calling party. By way ofexample, the calling party terminal may display a message indicatingthat the hold-call-back feature “has saved X minutes of your life.”Those skilled in the art will appreciate that the provision of on-holdstatistics is an optional feature of the invention and is not requiredin some embodiments to enable a hold-call-back feature. Therefore, steps502-506 are to be considered optional steps within exemplary method 500.

At step 508, the phone numbers for the calling party terminal and thecalled party terminal are received from the calling party terminal (orpossibly from another terminal). In some embodiments, this informationis sent by the calling party terminal in an HTTPS API call with JSON,which includes the phone numbers and a unique identifier associated withthe calling party terminal. Other messages and/or protocols may be usedin other embodiments. Next at step 510 a determination is made as towhether the call requested by the calling party terminal is authorizedto proceed. As described with reference to FIG. 3 (step 308), thisdetermination may involve one or more sanity checks. For example,customer account details associated with the calling party terminal'sphone number may be accessed to confirm that the account is current andno delinquencies exist. In addition, a rating database can be searchedfor rate records associated with the phone numbers of the calling partyterminal and the called party terminal. If it is determined that eitherphone number is not associated with a rate record, or if the raterecords indicate a cost for the requested call above a preset thresholdthen the call will not be authorized to proceed. Various other sanitychecks and other tests can be performed to determine if the requestedcall is authorized to proceed.

If the requested call is not authorized to proceed, the method proceedsto step 512 where the calling party terminal is prompted or otherwisenotified that the call cannot be completed. From step 512, processingreturns to step 508 to again await receipt of phone numbers for thecalling party terminal and called party terminal. For example, thecalling party terminal may prompt the calling party to input a newcalled party phone number. Processing continues from step 508 aspreviously described, except that in some cases the method may beautomatically terminated if new phone numbers are not received in adefined amount of time. If it is determined at step 510 that therequested call is authorized to proceed, a call record is created in thedatabase and the phone numbers of the calling party terminal and thecalled party terminal are stored therein at step 514. Then, at step 516,a call start command and the call record identifier, which identifiesthe call record in the database, are sent to a call server. Asmentioned, some exemplary systems according to the present invention mayinclude more than one call server 135 for scalability purposes (e.g.,load balancing, etc.) Accordingly, an API server 145 (or other device)executing the exemplary method 500 or a similar method for initiating acall connection may select a call server to handle the requested call.This selection may be based on availability, a random draw (e.g., arandomly weighted order of available call servers) or any of variousother algorithms or processes. Following step 516, the exemplary methodends at step 518.

FIG. 6 is a flow chart illustrating an exemplary client-side method 600for initiating a call for which a hold-call-back feature is enabled,according to certain embodiments of the invention. As described, certaintypes of terminals, such as smart phones, laptops, personal computers,etc., may execute client-side application modules 170 for interactingwith an API server 145 or other server device to initiate a call. Thus,in some embodiments, the client-side application module may comprisecomputer-executable instructions for performing the exemplary method 600or a method similar thereto. The exemplary method begins at startingstep 601 and advances to step 602 where a request for on-hold statisticsis made to an API server (or other appropriately configured device). Asdescribed, this request can be sent as a JSON statistics request in someembodiments. Other messages and/or protocols may be used in otherembodiments. At step 604, the requested on-hold statistics are receivedand displayed. At step 606, the phone number of the called party isreceived. By way of example, the calling party terminal may prompt thecalling party for input of a phone number, or may otherwise display afield in which a phone number can be input. Voice recognition and otherinput means are also contemplated.

In some embodiments, the calling party terminal may be configured toautomatically reformat phone numbers to a standard ten-digit format, ormay not accept any phone numbers that are not input in a standardten-digit format. Once the phone number of the called party terminal isreceived, a call request is generated and sent to an API server (orother appropriately configured device) at step 608. The call requestwill include at least the phone numbers of the calling party terminaland the called party terminal. As mentioned, the call request may be inthe form of an HTTPS API call with JSON. Other messages and protocolsmay alternatively be used. A positive or negative confirmation of thecall request is received and displayed at step 610. As an example, apositive confirmation may indicate that the call request is beingprocessed and a negative confirmation may indicate that the call cannotbe completed as requested. Following step 610, the exemplary method endsat step 612.

Many other modifications, features and embodiments of the presentinvention will become evident to those of skill in the art. For example,the hold-call-back feature described herein may be implemented usingvarious other device configurations and network architectures.Accordingly, it should be understood that the foregoing relates only tocertain embodiments of the invention, which are presented by way ofexample rather than limitation. Numerous changes may be made to theembodiments described herein without departing from the spirit and scopeof the invention as defined by the following claims.

The invention claimed is:
 1. A call server in a hybridtelecommunications network comprising: a network interface forconnecting the call server to a packet-based network comprising at leasta segment of the hybrid telecommunications network wherein a non-packetbased network comprises another segment of the hybrid telecommunicationsnetwork; a memory for storing one or more program modules; and aprocessor for executing the one or more program modules, wherein the oneor more program modules comprise computer-executable instructions forcausing the call server to: receive a call start command and a callrecord identifier from an application programming interface (API) viathe packet-based network; access a database record to retrieve a callrecord associated with the call record identifier, wherein the callrecord includes a phone number of a calling party terminal and a phonenumber of a called party terminal; establish a first connection with thecalling party terminal via the packet-based network by sending a firstconnection request to the phone number of the calling party terminal,establish a second connection with the called party terminal via thepacket-based network by sending a second connection request to the phonenumber of the called party terminal, join the first connection with thesecond connection to establish communication between the calling partyterminal and the called party terminal, park the second connection whenthe first connection is terminated or park the first connection when thesecond connection is terminated, establish a new connection with thecalling party terminal via the packet-based network if the firstconnection was terminated or establish a new connection with the calledparty terminal via the packet-based network if the second connection wasterminated, and join the new connection with the first or secondconnection to reestablish communication between the calling partyterminal and the called party terminal.
 2. The call server of claim 1,wherein the one or more program modules further comprisecomputer-executable instructions for causing the call server to:establish the new connection by sending a third connection request tothe phone number of the calling party terminal.
 3. The call server ofclaim 1, wherein accessing the database record is accomplished bycommunicating with a database server via the packet-based network. 4.The call server of claim 1, wherein another segment of thetelecommunications network includes a wireless cellular network.
 5. Thecall server of claim 4, wherein at least one of the calling partyterminal and called party terminal is a wireless handset.
 6. The callserver of claim 1, wherein at least one of the calling party terminaland called party terminal includes both Voice over IP (VoIP) andcellular capabilities.
 7. A method of reestablishing a call in a hybridtelecommunications network, the method comprising: receiving a callstart command and a call record identifier from an applicationprogramming interface (API) via a packet-based network; accessing adatabase to retrieve a call record associated with the call recordidentifier, wherein the call record includes a phone number of a callingparty terminal and a phone number of a called party terminal;establishing a first connection with the calling party terminal via apacket-based network by sending a first connection request to the phonenumber of the calling party terminal, wherein the packet-based networkcomprises at least a segment of the hybrid telecommunications networkand a non-packet based network comprises another segment of the hybridtelecommunications network; establishing a second connection with thecalled party terminal via the packet-based network by sending a secondconnection request to the phone number of the called party terminal;joining the first connection with the second connection to establishcommunication between the calling party terminal and the called partyterminal; parking the second connection when the first connection isterminated or parking the first connection when the second connection isterminated, establishing a new connection with the calling partyterminal via the packet-based network if the first connection wasterminated or establishing a new connection with the called partyterminal via the packet-based network if the second connection wasterminated, and joining the new connection with the first or secondconnection to reestablish communication between the calling partyterminal and the called party terminal.
 8. The method of claim 7,further comprising: creating an updated call record comprising the phonenumber of the calling party terminal and the phone number of the calledparty terminal; and storing the updated call record in a database inassociation with the call record identifier.
 9. The method of claim 7,further comprising: prior to establishing the second connection,determining that the calling party terminal is authorized to make a callto the called party terminal.
 10. The method of claim 9, whereindetermining that the calling party terminal is authorized to make thecall to the called party terminal comprises: accessing a database recordassociated with the calling party terminal to confirm that an account iscurrent.
 11. The method of claim 7, further comprising: establishing thenew connection by sending a third connection request to the phone numberof the calling party terminal.
 12. The method of claim 7, whereinanother segment of the telecommunications network includes a wirelesscellular network.
 13. The method of claim 12, wherein at least one ofthe calling party terminal and called party terminal is a wirelesshandset.
 14. The method of claim 7, wherein at least one of the callingparty terminal and called party terminal includes both Voice over IP(VoIP) and cellular capabilities.
 15. A system for reestablishing a callin a hybrid telecommunications network, comprising: a call server incommunication with an application programming interface (API), a callingparty terminal and a called party terminal via a packet-based networkcomprising a segment of the hybrid telecommunications network wherein anon packet based network comprises another segment of the hybridtelecommunications network, the call server programmed to: receive fromthe calling party terminal a phone number of the calling party terminaland a phone number of a called party terminal; create a call recordcomprising the phone number of the calling party terminal and the phonenumber of the called party terminal; store the call record in a databasein association with a call record identifier; receive a call startcommand and the call record identifier from the API via the packet-basednetwork and access the database to retrieve the call record associatedwith the call record identifier to obtain the phone number of thecalling party terminal and the phone number of the called partyterminal; establish a first connection with the calling party terminalvia the packet-based network using the phone number of the calling partyterminal and establish a second connection with the called partyterminal via the packet-based network using the phone number of thecalled party terminal; join the first connection with the secondconnection to establish communication between the calling party terminaland the called party terminal; park the second connection when the firstconnection is terminated or park the first connection when the secondconnection is terminated; establish a new connection with the callingparty terminal via the packet-based network if the first connection wasterminated or establish a new connection with the called party terminalvia the packet-based network if the second connection was terminated;and join the new connection with the first or second connection toreestablish communication between the calling party terminal and thecalled party terminal.
 16. The system of claim 15, wherein the callserver is further programmed to: establish the new connection by sendinga third connection request to the phone number of the calling partyterminal.
 17. The system of claim 15, wherein another segment of thetelecommunications network includes a wireless cellular network.
 18. Thesystem of claim 17, wherein at least one of the calling party terminaland called party terminal is a wireless handset.
 19. The system of claim15, wherein at least one of the calling party terminal and called partyterminal includes both Voice over IP (VoIP) and cellular capabilities.